J.T. Yorke
James Tiberius Yorke, known as J.T., (1989-2006) was a fictional character on Degrassi: The Next Generation. He was portrayed by Ryan Cooley. Background J.T. was born in Toronto, and raised by his mother. However, his grandmother began raising him after his father abandoned the family and his mother was not able to support him on her own. It's hinted that his parents had him during high school. Life at Degrassi When he was 12, he first attended Degrassi Community School in grade 7, and was best friends with Manny Santos and Emma Nelson. When he found out his friend Toby Isaacs transferred to the school for the school year, he became JT's newest best friend. He was often considered the class clown. Not long after he began attending Degrassi, Liberty Van Zandt developed a crush on him. In grade 8, J.T. had a crush on Paige Michalchuk, which followed into grade 9. He later liked Manny, until in grade 10 she found out he wasn't "up to Craig's standards" and found him to be immature. In grade 11, J.T. first started dating Liberty, after he became friends with her brother, Danny Van Zandt. The two became very close, and J.T. ended up getting Liberty pregnant after his condom fell off. Liberty was very demanding, so J.T. decided to end their relationship, but still offered to help supporting the baby. Seeing how supportive he was, Liberty decided to give him another chance, and the two got back together. The two then looked for places to live, and found a nice apartment, however, they didn't have enough money. J.T. was already juggling a job as the host of a local children's show as "PJ J.T.", and as a cashier at a pharmacy in the mall. After being talked into it by Jay Hogart, J.T. decided to sell Oxycontin to some dealers, eventually becoming a dealer himself. When Liberty found out, she broke up with him. This led to J.T. over-dosing on a bunch of pills, trying to kill himself at the Ravine during a party. His suicide attempt failed, and he had his stomach pumped. Liberty later gave birth to their child, a boy, and gave him up for adoption to a family in Vancouver. In his senior year, J.T. started dating a new student named Mia Jones who had a daughter named Isabella. J.T. and Mia soon dated, and he became close with both of them. He got his job back as PJ J.T. During a school girl's backetball game against Lakehurst High School, the Spirit Squad started fighting after Nic insulted Mia. J.T. hit Nic in the face with his mascot helmet, and was given a few weeks worth of detention. Nic told J.T. and Toby to sleep with one eye open. He continued to date Mia, and later found out Mia dated Nic. Nic declared "war" on Degrassi, and J.T. declared war back. J.T., along with Danny and Derek Haig tried to recruit people to fight them, but nobody wanted to. Toby told them to just drop it, and that if it continued, it would just get worse. The guys didn't listen, and insisted on fighting. At the request of Mia, the guys didn't fight them, however, the Lakehurst guys found Toby in the Degrassi courtyard, and beat him up, even breaking his arm. Not to long after, on Liberty's birthday, Manny wanted to throw a party because Emma's parents were out of town, but they didn't have an excuse. J.T. suggested that she should throw Liberty a party for her birthday. Manny gave Liberty a makeover, and word got out that there was a party. While there, Liberty confessed to J.T. that she loved him. J.T. was startled to hear that, so he told her that he was dating Mia. Liberty got mad and ran outside. J.T. found Toby and asked him for advice. He asked whether he should go for Mia or Liberty, because he liked both. Toby told him Liberty, so J.T. ran outside to look for her. He didn't see her, but instead saw two students from Lakehurst there- Johnny DiMarco and Drake Lempky. Death Johnny was urinating on J.T.'s car, and J.T. didn't get too mad, and told him to find something better to do. Obviously drunk, Drake pulled out a switchblade, and told J.T. to laugh at this, ran with it, and stabbed J.T. behind his back. It punctured his aorta. The two guys fled from the scene, and shortly after, Liberty saw the body and cried for help. Later at the hospital, the doctors informed Toby (who told them that he was J.T.'s brother) that there was nothing they could do, and that "his brother" was dead. Manny, Liberty, Emma, and Sean Cameron get in a big group hug, and mourned the loss. J.T. was only 17, Reaction A few days later, J.T.'s funeral was held. A big memorial at Degrassi was held in remembrance, and Jimmy Brooks made t-shirts, with the proceeds going to the Yorke family. Mr. Simpson hosted the event, and many were in attendance. A slide show put together by Spinner Mason and Peter Stone and a video by Mia were shown. A few days later, there were several protests against Lakehurst by Degrassi students, telling them to "go home". Eventually, 2 men, Miguel Javier(Javier Bardem) and Frank Mackey(Matt Damon) come to town....seeking revenge. It turns out J.T. was their nephew, one of them states "They killed him, we'll return the favor....a 1000 times over." Frank used to be part of the Special Air Service and MI6, but was discharged. Miguel was toughen up by prison and became part of CEAT. Then became sociopathic, using a captive bolt pistol....Johnny DiMarco and Drake Lempky are in danger and deserve it. A quote "Knockin' on Heaven's Door." Yorke, J.T.